BEST DRY SAND & TOT LOT DETECTOR

[YAKE]

I have been detecting San Diego beaches the past three years using a Sovereign GT with great success. However I think it would be more enjoyable to detect dry sand and tot lots with lighter weight and faster responding detector. I'm thinking either Minelab X-Terra 705 or Teknetics Omega. What would you all recommend?
Thank You
Jerry

 

[therover]

n/t

 

[mortarman]

Tesoro Vaquero or Compadre

 

[hershey1]

G-2

 

[Rebel1]

Compadre

 

[mudpuppy]

The F70 is very light and very fast.

 

[goodmore]

AT Pro

 

[john4840]

Hello YAKE, I am long time Minelab user and I would consider the Garrett ACE 250. I bought one for my Son for his birthday about a month ago. It is a neat little detector for the money. It has pretty good discrimination, lite as a feather, and it runs on only 4 AA batteries. I like the stock coil, it is perfect for hunting tot lots. ACE 250 user have made some impressive finds.

John

 

[Diggler]

Tesoro Vaquero with a CleanSweep on the end...

 

[Larry (IL)]

As you can see, everyone has their favorite, mine is the Tesoro Cibola but in reality any detector that you know how to use will work just fine.

 

[BarberBill]

There's a worthwhile advantage to a detector that has a small coil available. That combination will let one detector more closely to the metal posts on playground equipment in tot lots and parks. One detector that hasn't been mentioned is any of the White's Prizm/Coinmaster series with the 4X6 shooter coil in addition to the standard coil.
BB

 

[john4840]

There's a worthwhile advantage to a detector that has a small coil available. That combination will let one detector more closely to the metal posts on playground equipment in tot lots and parks. One detector that hasn't been mentioned is any of the White's Prizm/Coinmaster series with the 4X6 shooter coil in addition to the standard coil.
BB

I thought about those but I have never tried one. I was checking out the prizm 5 because I like the fact it had TID numbers.

John

 

[:Left4Dead]

Best..

Most all tesoros - lightest
Ace series
Teknetics-light

At pro -heavy.

 

[Canewrap]

That environment is where I think the TID machines shine. You don't need a lot of depth, but you do need good discrimination and as was pointed out, a smaller coil will let you get closer to the equipment as well as pick out targets between the trash. The ACE 250 recommendation I saw a few people make, is a good economical solution to that. A used Minelab X-terra will also get the job done.

 

[gmanlight]

The G2 / Gold Bug units are hot on gold very light and rock solid ID with 1 99 scale.

 

[Diggler]

You want a small coil to get next to bars and fences? How about 3" wide? You want a big coil to cover a never ending beach? How about 18" long? I have found more stuff with a CleanSweep coil than all others combined and for the life of me can't figure out why it isn't the most popular coil on the planet... Not enough depth you say? On a Vaquero you will get more depth than a lot of the detectors I see being mentioned in this thread. No TID? Who needs it when you can pinpoint to within an inch and pop out the target faster than trying to get a stable ID. Won't pick up small gold? Tell that to the tiny gold rings, ear rings, .177 pellets that I always dig. One good reason to not get a CSC is the temporary halt in production for the H.O.T. machines. But you can still find them and Tesoro would surely replace it with the new model when they come out if you have a problem. Only place it would be less than perfect is next to a trash infested picnic table, but will still hit on silver. For a tot lot or the beach.. PERFECT!

 

[BH_Landstar_]

I'll add the Minelab X-Terra 705 with the 10x5 18.75 kHz coil to this list ....

Below is one of the rings I found with it a little while back at a tot lot ! 24K gold ring at 11.2 grams.

 

[Diggler]

Awesome! I have yet to find 24K. I did have an Xterra with 18.75 and it definitely gets a thumbs up.

 

[MarkCZ]

I didn't buy this detector for ToT-LoT hunting but of the ones I have the Fisher F2 with its little coil works very well around close to the equipment. If the ToT-LoT has a larger more open area around it then I would use the F2 around the equipment and one of my other detectors for the open area, either the CS or the Whites 5900.

Mark

 

[Tom Slick]

White's Classic III SL or if you want a metered unit a White's IDX or IDX Pro with a BigFoot coil. In 35 years of detecting I haven't seen any detector do any better in the dry sand for number of targets recovered per hour. Great in tot lots too!